Re: UTV\'s Snow Plowing Capability
A lot of it depends on how much snow you get and what type of snow you get (dry versus wet). You didn't fill out your profile so we have no idea where in the country you are.
My neighbors uses a 4 wheeler to plow his snow and it is effective but requires him to push the snow before it gets too deep (seems to be a 4 to 6 inch maximum depending on conditions). Consequently in a large storm he may plow the snow twice if more than 6 inches is expected.
Much of any machine's ability to plow snow is based on the weight of the unit and the traction it gets, versus the amount of snow that the blade is grabbing. Many of us with tractors find we need to add weights to push snow. I switched to a snowblower on my tractors simply because we get a lot of wet heavy snow when it snows and that is much easier to blow than to push. I think most UTVs are actually fairly light in overall weight, so I suspect the larger units would be much better at pushing snow than the compact units.
There are a couple UTV/tractor hybrids that will allow you to use a snowblower attachement. Or a front blade if you prefer. Steiner's Utilimax is a single seat UTV/Tractor that will blow snow, mow the lawn, and carry a load in the cargo box. Price for the basic unit without attachements is about $14,500 (list price is more, but I was quoted prices below list). The Bobcat Toolcat is a larger much more deluxe unit, base price without cab, etc, is about $18,000+. The Toolcat is more capable. Both are 4 wheel drive. Both might be worth considering because both can also replace your tractor if you don't have a lot of heavy duty tractoring to do. Essentially you get 2 machines in one with either of these units so you only have one engine to maintain, etc. The cost of a small diesel tractor (even a lawn tractor) plus the cost of a UTV can easily be thousands more expensive that a basic version of these combo units. The Steiner unit would be a much better "mower" type tractor/UTV. The Bobcat unit would be a better tractor type tractor/UTV.
